Women’s City Six Notebook: Drexel’s 15-point comeback highlights an eventful week

It was a thrilling week for the City 6, headlined by overtime victories, a wire-to-wire Big 5 matchup, and a 15-point comeback. It’s just the first week in January, so conference play is on the horizon. We’re just getting started.

This is the first City 6 women’s college basketball notebook, where we’ll look at the biggest performances and recap the weekly performances of each school.

Temple went 2-0 in two tightly played road games. The three-pointer is often seen as a separator in basketball. It can stop or start a run. Sophomore guard Marissa Mackins had no trouble doing both. Mackins unleashed 12 triples on La Salle and Tulsa last week. She had a career-high 28 points on seven threes against La Salle and added 25 in an overtime win against Tulsa. Mackins started the season with back-to-back impressive performances, but she hit a cold stretch. After five straight single-digit scoring games, Mackins is averaging 22.6 points in her last five. She was named Big 5 Player of the Week.

“[Mackins] always has the green light,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “Every time she shoots the ball, I think it’s going in. A lot of times as a shooter, you just have to see one go in and right now she thinks every one is going in.”

Drexel started its week with a win against Maine and a loss to College of Charleston. Losing the last two would have left a bad taste, and it looked to be headed that way as the Dragons trailed UNC-Wilmington by 15 points. A 16-2 fourth-quarter run helped erased the deficit. Senior forward Bailey Greenberg led the way with 22 points. She averaged 24 points in the three games last week.

“I think our press certainly helped,” coach Denise Dillon said. “We were able to pressure them and turn them over a little more. In our halfcourt offense, we were playing to take advantage of defenders who were in foul trouble.”

“As Bailey Greenberg goes, we go," Dillon said. "I’m really proud of her willingness to be the best on the floor. We laugh about it, but in all seriousness, we’re going to get as much basketball as we can out of Bailey in her senior campaign.”

The Quakers made the most of their time on the islands, defeating Hawaii and Chaminade by a combined 66 points. Kayla Padilla led the team in scoring in both games, compiling 22 and 17 points. Penn is off to its best start in program history with a 10-1 record. Its first game back is against the 25th-ranked Princeton Tigers. We’ll know how good the Quakers can be this season after that one.

Everyone knows it. When playing Villanova, you have to focus on controlling Mary Gedaka and Madison Siegrist. The duo is scoring a combined 38.1 points per game, but no one else averages double figures. That could be changing. Even if it doesn’t, a third weapon might be emerging: senior forward Bridget Herlihy, who had 11-point games against Seton Hall and St. John’s last week. The Wildcats started the week with a blowout loss to Creighton. Gedaka and Siegrist combined for 28 of Villanova’s 42 points in that game, but no one else had more than four. In the two wins, Herlihy joined the duo in double figures. The Wildcats have won the last three games in which she has scored 10 or more points. It’s no secret sauce. It’s just the recipe.

La Salle lost a close game against Temple and dropped its Atlantic 10 opener in a blowout loss to Dayton. However, senior forward Shalina Miller continues to make her presence felt on the defensive end. Miller passed Linda French to move up to No. 2 on the school’s all-time list for blocks. She is now four shy of tying Amy Griffin for the school record of 151. Miller has recorded two or more blocks in 12 of 14 games. So, keep your eyes open. That record can be shattered at any given moment now.

Sometimes it can be ugly, and other times it can be as beautiful as your sixth-grade crush. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting the job done. The Hawks started the week crawling to a 49-40 victory over the Naval Academy, but they ended it scorching hot in a 67-56 win against Richmond. St. Joe’s shot 62.5% in the second half and was led by Katie Jekot’s 17 points.